Adjustable Slide-on shelf for railings or other vertical surfaces for setting things on or attaching things to

ABSTRACT

An adjustable Slide-On Shelf for railings or other vertical surfaces for setting things on or attaching things to. The shelf has adjustable vertical boards attached lengthwise to it. The vertical boards attached to the bottom of the shelf can be slid closer together and further apart so they can be slid over a railing and slid together and tightened to make the shelf stable. It has removable foam strips that attach easily with no tools to the inside of the adjustable vertical boards. This allows it to fit snugly against railings such as wrought iron railings with rails different in size from the slats. This makes the unit universally fit different sized and shaped railings or other narrow vertical surfaces. 
     Attachments such as storage boxes can be added to the top of the shelf.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to provisional application No. 61/915,389 filed on Dec. 12, 2013.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Problem being Solved

There was a need for a horizontal surface on a 4″ wide by 1″ thick board hooked vertically between the support legs of an A-Frame swing to set coffee cups or glasses on while sitting in the swing. I did not want to damage the board on the swing by nailing or screwing a horizontal board to it.

A horizontal board with 2 vertical boards attached lengthwise and vertically to it with a 1″ gap between them was constructed and slid over the 1″ vertical board between the legs of the swing. It is removable and provides the shelf we needed (see FIG. 1 for example of the horizontal surface or shelf slid over the vertical board between the legs of the swing).

The problem with this shelf was that the fixed width gap between the vertical boards attached to it were fixed at approximately 1″. It slid over the 1″ vertical board running between the legs of the swing just fine, but would not slide over the wrought iron railing on a deck. The wrought iron railing on our deck has a top and bottom rail 1¾″ wide and narrower slats ¾″ thick between the top and bottom rails.

What was needed was a shelf where the vertical boards that were attached to it could be easily adjusted or slid to different widths creating variable width gaps. The vertical boards could be adjusted so they would slide over the top rail of the wrought iron deck railing on our deck as well as other sized railings. A prototype was built with the adjustable vertical boards (see FIGS. 10 & 11).

This prototype worked and the shelf could be slid over the top rail of our deck railing as well as other decks, railings, or any vertical surface whether solid or not solid like a wrought iron railing. Another problem was encountered when we slid the shelf on the wrought iron railing of our deck. The shelf was unstable and would wobble because the vertical boards did not press against the narrower slats running between the top and bottom rail of the wrought iron. To solve this, Velcro was attached to the insides of the adjustable vertical boards that are attached to the shelf. Also, Velcro was attached to a strip of flexible rubber or foam and this strip of foam was attached to the insides of the Vertical boards (See FIG. 11).

The above are details of the process in which the current shelf that is being patented came to be. A provisional patent (61/915,389) was filed Dec. 12, 2013 to get my ideas on record for a slide-on shelf with fixed or adjustable vertical boards after the shelf for the swing was created, but before the details of how to make the gap between the vertical boards adjustable was developed. See FIG. 1 for a drawing of the original shelf created for the swing. See FIGS. 10 and 11 for drawings of the adjustable vertical surfaces that have been created for the present shelf being patented.

2. Prior Art

U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,113 patented Jun. 6, 1989 and titled “Detachable Trays for Waterbeds” had a shelf that could be slid over the bed side rails of a waterbed. Slots were cut in the underside of the horizontal surface and the vertical surfaces or legs were slid into these slots. The distance between the vertical surfaces or legs in this invention are fixed and the leveling guides would not work with a vertical surface that is not solid such as a wrought iron railing, vinyl railing, a picket fence with spaces between the pickets, or any other vertical surface that is not solid. It would probably not work on the 4″ vertical board between the legs of the swing mentioned above. No dimensions were given, but it looks like the leg #25 is made for the wider or deeper side of the waterbed and would be too short to press against the board. This made it more specific to a waterbed rather than different sized vertical boards or railings. The invention being patented in this application does not have any of these limitations.

There are a number of patents for hospital bed shelves referred to in prior art in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,113, one which is referred to below. None were found to be in conflict with the “Detachable Trays for Waterbeds” patent because they are so specific to water beds and not universal to fit on other vertical surfaces. The shelf being patented in this application overcomes all of the problems in the above patents and the ones made for waterbeds mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,113's discussion of prior art. It will work on any type of railing, vinyl or picket fence, or any narrow vertical surface regardless of shape or size.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,881 patented Nov. 9, 1982, uses an arm that attaches to the horizontal support rails of a hospital bed. It would not work on a solid vertical surface like the vertical board between the legs of the swing and would not work on a wrought iron railing or a picket fences, chain linked fences, etc.

I have done multiple searches on the USPTO site and had a search done by Legal Zoom and no other patents that would directly conflict with this “adjustable slide-on shelf” patent have come to my attention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists of a flat surface that will be used to form a shelf on narrow vertical surfaces such as a vertical board that runs between the legs of a swing (FIG. 1) or on the top rail of a wrought iron railing (FIGS. 20 & 21).

The flat surface that will form a shelf has two other vertical surfaces attached lengthwise along the bottom of it. These 2 vertical surfaces are easily adjustable in distance from each other so that they can be slid over different sized railings or almost any narrow vertical surfaces whether solid or not solid such as a wrought iron railing. Foam strips are attached to the inside lower portion of the vertical boards to form a surface projected out from the vertical boards to fit against, for example, slats on a wrought iron railing that are narrower than the top rail on the wrought iron railing.

The unit constructed from the above description creates a shelf on top of items such as a wrought iron railing or on a vertical board between the legs of a swing. This surface is used for setting things on such as coffee cups, glasses, etc.

Attachments can also be added to the shelf such as storage boxes, ornaments, etc. In the case of a storage box added to the top of the shelf, you can store items such as pencils for doing crossword puzzles, garden tools, or even crossword puzzles if the shelf is mounted on a railing inside the house.

LISTING OF FIGURES

FIG. 1—Horizontal Board with vertical boards attached lengthwise slid over a vertical board running between the legs of a swing.

FIG. 2—A horizontal surface with smaller boards attached to its sides forming a lip around the horizontal surface (referred to as “shelf” throughout this document—U1 points to this shelf unit).

FIG. 3—View of bottom of the shelf with the side removed showing hanging bolts screwed into it that are used to tighten down a small piece of wood that slides onto the bolts and over the extended section of the “adjustable vertical boards”.

FIG. 4—The side of the vertical boards that will be attached to the bottom of the shelf without Velcro.

FIG. 5—The side of the vertical boards that will be attached to the bottom of the shelf with Velcro attached.

FIG. 6,7—Narrow pieces of wood that will be bracketed onto the bottom sides of the vertical boards (FIGS. 4 & 5) that are longer lengthwise than the vertical boards to form an extended section on the lower sides of the vertical boards. These could be made into 1 piece parts using molds for plastic, etc. in future production.

FIG. 8, 9—The vertical boards (FIGS. 4 & 5) after bracketing the narrow pieces of wood (FIGS. 6 & 7) to them.

FIG. 10—Partial view of the bottom side of the shelf with the vertical boards sitting on it and the small piece of wood (P8) that will slide onto the hanging bolts to secure the vertical boards. As can be seen in FIG. 11, there are 2 parts p8, one at each end of the “shelf”.

FIG. 11—The bottom of the shelf with the vertical boards on it and the small piece of wood (P8) slid onto the hanging bolt. Loosening the wing nuts on the hanging bolts (FIG. 3, P3) allows the vertical boards to be slid and tightening them secures them tightly into place.

FIG. 12—One of the “adjustable vertical boards” that will be attached to the bottom of the shelf with a foam or rubber strip attached to it using Velcro. Throughout this application, these vertical boards that will be attached to the bottom of the shelf will be called “adjustable vertical boards” (See FIG. 11, U2 which shows an arrow to these “adjustable vertical boards”.

FIG. 13—One of the “adjustable vertical boards” with another board with Velcro attached to it. A foam strip can also be attached to this other board. This is an alternative to using a foam or rubber strip only. Either system works, but the foam or rubber strip has worked better for the prototype used in designing this invention.

FIG. 14—The board to be attached to the “adjustable vertical boards” as shown in FIG. 13 before attaching it.

FIG. 15—The side of the foam or rubber strip shown in FIG. 12 without Velcro.

FIG. 16—The side of the foam or rubber strip shown in FIG. 12 that has the Velcro attached to it.

FIG. 17—The “adjustable vertical boards” attached to the bottom of the shelf fully open and not tightened down.

FIG. 18—The vertical boards attached to the bottom of the shelf closed and ready to be tightened down by screwing the wing nuts tighter. An alternative to wing nuts would be nuts that are round and grooved that can be tightened and loosened by hand without the use of tools.

FIG. 19—The shelf on the railing with the vertical boards closed tightly onto the top rail (E1) and the foam or rubber strip pressed in tightly on the smaller slats (E2).

FIG. 20—Side view of the shelf on the railing.

FIG. 21—View of the shelf looking down the railing.

FIG. 22—Shelf mounted on the railing with a storage box (with a lid) snugly slid inside the lip.

FIG. 23—Shelf mounted on the railing with a storage box (without a lid) snugly slid inside the lip.

LISTING OF THE PARTS

Note: The parts listed here are wood, screws, bolts, Velcro, and foam (actually a foam noodle tube used by kids in a swimming pool cut in half and squared off which produced the exact consistency and flexibility needed for the prototype). These are the parts used in producing a prototype of the shelf during the creation and testing of the invention. Many materials such as plastic, brackets that allow the vertical boards to be slid and adjusted rather than the sliding system using hanging bolts and wood strips, etc. could be used to produce this product.

Dimensions are just examples used in this prototype and could be different such as the size of the shelf, etc. The parts are numbered beginning with the letter P for part.

P1—Board 2′ long×7½″ wide×1″ thick that is the horizontal surface that forms the shelf when on a railing.

P2—2 boards 2′×2½″ wide and ×½″ thick. These are for the longer portion of the lip of the “shelf”.

P2A—2 boards 7¼″ long×2½″ wide and ×½″ thick. These are for the shorter portion of the lip of the “shelf”.

P3—4 hanging bolts 2″ long and 3/16″ in diameter.

P4—2 boards 21″ long×4″ wide×¾″ thick used as adjustable vertical boards to be attached to bottom of shelf to form a gap for sliding over the fence, railing, or other vertical surfaces.

P5—Velcro attached to the side of one of the “adjustable vertical boards” used to attach foam strips to.

P6—2 strips of wood 23¾″ long×1 “wide by ½” thick that will be attached to bottom of the “adjustable vertical boards” (P4) to form an extension so the vertical boards can slide under the strip of wood (FIG. 10, P8) that is slid over the hanging bolts (FIG. 10, P3).

P7—8 L shaped brackets used to attach P6 to the bottom of P4 (FIGS. 6, 7, 8 & 9).

P8—2 strips of wood 7¼″ long×1¼″ wide×⅝″ thick that slide onto the hanging bolts that will allow the “adjustable vertical boards” to be slid and secured (see FIGS. 10 & 11).

P9—A foam or rubber strip 21″ long×2″ wide×1½″ thick with Velcro attached to one side that can be attached to the “adjustable vertical boards”. The foam strip will press against the narrower slats in the case of a wrought iron railing stabilizing the shelf against the railing. Different thickness foam strips can be used or Velcro can be put on both sides of the foam strips so the strips can also be attached together creating different thicknesses as needed.

P10—A separate board 21″ long×2¾″ wide×⅝″ wide with Velcro attached to both sides. This board can be attached to the “adjustable vertical boards” and serve the same purpose as the foam strips.

U1—U1 is the unit or component in FIG. 2 which is the flat horizontal surface with the sides attached to it to form a lip referred throughout this application as the “Shelf”.

U2—U2 referred to in FIGS. 9 and 10 is the unit or component consisting of the vertical boards with the longer strips of wood attached to them that are to be attached to the bottom of the shelf. These units are referred to throughout this application as the “adjustable vertical boards”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

There are 2 major units or components to this invention.

1. A flat surface which consists of a board long enough and wide enough to form a usable flat surface on top of railings, fences, or other narrow vertical surfaces whether inside or outside of the house. This flat surface can have smaller boards attached to the sides to form a lip. Throughout this application, the flat surfaces with the smaller boards attached forming a lip are referred to as the “shelf”. See FIG. 2—U1 which has an arrow pointing to the shelf unit.

2. Two flat boards with smaller strips of wood slightly longer that are attached to the bottom of the 2 flat boards. These “adjustable vertical boards” will be attached to the bottom of the shelf to form an adjustable sized gap for sliding the shelf onto different types and sizes of railings. See FIGS. 8 & 9 for a drawing of these boards with the wood strips attached to the bottom of them. FIGS. 8 & 9, U2 has an arrow pointing to the units. The flat boards with the strips of wood attached are referred to throughout this application as the “adjustable vertical boards”. See FIGS. 10 & 11 for drawings of the “adjustable vertical boards” attached to the shelf.

This invention provides a “shelf” on vertical surfaces such as on vertical boards that extend between the legs on an A-Frame of a swing (FIG. 1), on railings such as a wrought iron railing on a deck (FIGS. 20 & 21), on picket fences, vinyl fences, or other similar narrow vertical surfaces. The “shelf” has “adjustable vertical boards” attached lengthwise to its bottom that create a gap (FIGS. 10 & 11). This gap is used to slide the “shelf” over a vertical narrow surface such as a wrought iron railing. The “adjustable vertical boards” are mounted in such a way that they can be slid in and out adjusting the size of the gap between the boards (FIGS. 10 & 11). This allows the shelf to be slid over different sized and shaped railings, boards, fences, etc. because of the adjustable gap (FIGS. 20 & 21). The “adjustable vertical boards” have Velcro attached to one side of them (see FIG. 8, P5) that is used for attaching rubber or foam strips (or boards, if boards rather than foam strips are used). These foam strips also have Velcro attached to them (see FIG. 12, P9). After the “shelf” has been slid onto the wrought iron railing and the “adjustable vertical boards” have been slid together, the foam strips fit snugly against the slats on a wrought iron railing (see FIG. 19, E2 for example of the tight fit). Because of the flexibility and give in the foam strips, the top part of the “adjustable vertical boards” without the Velcro can fit snugly against the top rail, making the unit very steady and secure (see FIG. 19, E1 for an example of the top portion snug against the top rail). Once mounted, the shelf or horizontal surface can be used for setting things on such as coffee cups, glasses, etc. The lip on the “shelf” will keep things set on it such as cups, glasses, etc. from sliding off.

Items can also be attached to the horizontal surface or shelf such as storage boxes with or without lids, decorative ornaments, etc. (See FIGS. 22 and 23 for examples of storage boxes attached to the shelf). The storage boxes for the prototype were constructed so they snugly slide into the lip. Other means of attaching them can be used. Also other items could be attached such as battery operated Tiki torches, ornaments, etc.

How the “Shelf” with “Adjustable Vertical Boards” is Constructed:

These are the instructions for building the shelf unit used in the prototype. As the product is marketed and produced, the instructions may change as materials or techniques change.

1. Screw the smaller side boards (parts P2 and P2A) onto the sides of the horizontal surface (part P1) to form a lip around the top flat usable surface or “shelf”. See FIG. 2.

2. Screw the hanging bolts (P3) into in the 4 corners of the bottom of the “shelf”. See FIG. 3.

3. Attach the smaller strips of wood (P6) to the bottoms of the 2 larger boards (P4) using the brackets (P7). See FIGS. 8 & 9.

4. Attach the flat receptor side of the Velcro (P5) to one side of the “vertical sliding boards” (P4) on the top side away from the smaller strips of wood (P6).

5. Attach Velcro, with the fuzzy stick-on side pointing out, onto one side of the foam strips. See FIG. 12, P9). You can also attach Velcro to both sides of the foam strips (P9) if it is decided that you want to layer the foam strips to allow different thicknesses. This was not done in the prototype.

All of the components are now manufactured and the unit is ready to be used to slide the “shelf” onto a railing or other narrow vertical surface.

Relationship Between the Components:

The “adjustable vertical boards” are laid on the bottom of the “shelf” (FIGS. 10 & 11) and the 2 strips of wood made to slide over the hanging bolts (P8) are slid over the hanging bolts and the wing nuts are screwed onto the hanging bolts (FIG. 11). The “shelf” is now ready to slide onto a narrow vertical surface such as a wrought iron railing.

How the Invention Works:

If the unit is to be slid over a solid vertical surface such the vertical board between the legs of the swing (FIG. 1), you simply loosen the wing nuts on the hanging bolts (FIG. 3, P3), slide the “adjustable vertical boards” apart enough to slide the unit onto the board, squeeze the “adjustable vertical boards” together so they are snug against the board between the legs of the swing, tighten the wing nuts, and the unit is ready to use. You do not have to put the foam strips (P9) on in this case since it is a flat vertical board the “shelf” is being slid on.

If the unit is to be slid over a surface that is not flat such as a wrought iron railing, attach the foam strips to the “adjustable vertical boards” so they will just fit under the top railing and slide the adjustable vertical boards together so that they are tight against the surface of the top railing. The foam will compress to fit snugly against the slats of the railing automatically. See FIG. 19, E1 and E2 to show the flat part of the “adjustable vertical boards” and the foam strips pressed against the top railing and slats respectively.

How to Use the Invention:

The shelf can be used for setting any item you want on it such as coffee cups, glasses, etc. You can also secure any kind of ornamental decoration, storage box, etc. to the shelf.

If the storage box is attached, it can be used for setting things inside such as pencils, ping pong balls, ornaments, mounting moss to stick artificial flowers in, etc. If the top is added, it can be closed to protect what's put inside or keep it from blowing away. 

1-13. (canceled)
 14. I claim a detachable shelf to be slid onto narrow vertical surfaces, creating a flat surface to sit things on, on top of the narrow vertical surface it is slid onto; the shelf being comprised of a flat surface with enough width, length and thickness to form a horizontal flat surface on the narrow vertical surface it is slid onto, with 2 flat surfaces with some length, width and thickness attached vertically and lengthwise to the bottom of it using a bracket system that is adjustable to allow the vertical flat surfaces to be slid apart and closer together thus forming an adjustable sized gap between the flat portions of the vertical surfaces, with a strip made of a pliable material that can be attached and removed quickly and easily to and from the insides of the 2 vertical boards, thus allowing the shelf to be slid onto different sized and shaped narrow vertical surfaces and secured to them.
 15. The horizontal surface on the shelf of claim 14 can have surfaces with some width, length, and thickness attached to it's sides to form a lip around the edges of the horizontal surface.
 16. The horizontal surface on the shelf of claim 14 can have items such as a storage box attached to the top of it.
 17. The adjustable bracket system on the device in claim 14 consists of 4 bolts that extend from the bottom of the horizontal surface and a narrow block with holes that slide over the bolts and are secured by screwing nuts onto the bolts.
 18. The vertical boards set forth in claim 14 have extensions on the bottom edge of them that are placed under the block defined in claim 17 above, which attaches the vertical surfaces to the flat horizontal surface when the nuts are put in place onto the bolts and over the blocks, with the nuts being left loose to allow the vertical boards to be adjusted either closer together or further apart, and tightened to secure the vertical boards into place, therefore securing the shelf in claim 14 to the narrow vertical surface they have been slid onto.
 19. The flat vertical surfaces that are attached to the horizontal flat surface as set forth in claim 14 have a quick attaching and removing system such as Velcro attached to the inside flat portions of each of the vertical surfaces.
 20. Strips can be attached to the quick attaching and removing system on the insides of the vertical boards as set forth in claim 19, the strips having the same quick attaching and removing system as the vertical boards.
 21. The strips set forth in claim 20 are made of a pliable material such as rubber foam that have enough flexibility to compress when pressed against the vertical sides of the narrow vertical surface it is being slid onto, and to form indents in the pliable material if the pliable material is pressed against an uneven or inconsistent surface such as a surface with slats, with the pliable material being thick enough to press against an indented area if the narrow vertical surface the shelf is being slid onto has a wider top section with a narrower indented area below the wider top section.
 22. An alternative bracket system such as a channel system that allows the flat vertical surfaces to be attached to the horizontal flat surface and where the vertical boards can be slid closer together and further apart forming a variable sized gap between the vertical surfaces can be used instead of the bracket system set forth in claim 17, therefore eliminating the need for the extensions at the bottom of the vertical surfaces as set out in claim 18 if this alternative bracket system is used. 